Seems to me there are only two people whose X-rays those could logically belong to. Ben/Henry Gale is one, but I don't think so. I'm wagering the X-Rays belong to Locke. Locke has the tumor in his spine. This explains why A) we have yet to see the flashback of his 'accident' that crippled him, i.e. there wasn't one. B) How the island healed him. The island emits magnetic energy that cures cancer. Rose's cancer was cured. If Locke also has a tumor in his back, the island cured that as well, or if not cured, nullified. Of course, if the X-Rays are Locke's, this doesn't explain why Jack is needed and will be coerced into operating on the spine of whoever the X-Rays belong to or why operating on Locke's spine is so important to the Others. But that's my best guess.

I was thinking the same thing: How did they get Locke's X-Rays? But at the same time, there's a very good chance that the X-Ray could be Ben's. Especially if he's never been off the island, he may not know that he's paralyzed and therefore unable to walk. I suppose its possible that all the Others have a problem where they are born with a tumor and therefore cannot leave the island. This could even tie in with the theory that the Others are infertile (which would explain Juliet being a fertility doctor.)

So at least we know that Desmond is not a figment of Hurley's imagination. The bit with the lightning was amusing. I wonder how long its going to be before everyone else figures out that Desmond can sense the future.

The integration of Paolo continues to feel disjointed.

I tire of Charlie's defensiveness when anyone else approaches Claire.

So it looks like the Kate-Sawyer love was all a fake out and she's going to choose Jack? Or was she just rejecting Sawyer since he seemed to suddenly be rejecting her? I liked how she said that the scariest part of what happened to him is that he was lying about it.

I liked Ben's con that Sawyer had a pacemaker. I spent the entire episode trying to figure out if he did or not. Crafty Others! But why do they need Sawyer's respect?

The preview next week makes it look like it HAS to be an Other (most likely Ben) because Jack is talking to someone from his cell. As for the island curing cancer, well, we just learned this week that they aren't even on the same island as the other survivors, so maybe whoever has the tumor won't have the same luxuries as Rose and Locke with respect to mystical healing.

Watching the preview for THIS week's episode LAST week, I didn't think it was Ben asking Kate if she loved Sawyer. Didn't sound like him, and as some people pointed out on here, didn't really make sense for him to be asking that.

I knew Sawyer was conning that chump in prison from the get-go, but I thought he was trying to somehow get the money for himself. I much prefer the storyline the writers chose.

Is anyone else getting the vibe that Season 3 is Season 1, The Remix? I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way, either. Locke is the new Jack: the defacto leader that everyone looks to to get things done. Desmond looks like he may be the new Locke or the new Walt: the prediction of the rain, the strange, mystical aura he carries about himself. There have been repetitions of some scenes: Desmond throwing stones out into the ocean, people golfing, Locke waking up in the middle of the jungle, the polar bear attack. Probably some other stuff too that's not coming to mind at the moment. I think it's pretty interesting.

I don't know why Sawyer didn't just shove Ben off that cliff when he had the chance. Fuck that guy and his rabbit-shaking bullshit.

Jack made special note of the fact that it was the spine of a 40ish man, so I don't think it's Locke. Maybe it's the "him" that Ben mentioned last season and everyone assumed was himself...but maybe there really is an uber-boss that runs the Others. By the way, can a spinal surgeon really tell how old a person is from a cursory glance at their spine x-rays?

I love Bill Duke, so it was good to see him in the flashback. I was a bit confused by Clementine turning Sawyer in -- wasn't she herself guilty of several cons?

So, Paolo is the island's answer to Sergio Garcia. Well, that's this week's character development. Thanks for showing up, Rodrigo Santoro! Also, I love how after Locke's big speech last week about getting Jack/Kate/Sawyer back, the Castaways have banded together to....hang around the beach again and hit some golf balls.

Edited to add something interesting I read on the TWOP boards. Sawyer sent his money to a bank in Albequerque -- the same one that Kate robbed?

Originally posted by Big Bad Also, I love how after Locke's big speech last week about getting Jack/Kate/Sawyer back, the Castaways have banded together to....hang around the beach again and hit some golf balls.

Well Locke did specify they were going after Eko was better and we didn't see a healthy Eko yet.

Sawyer episodes always have the most interesting flashback/island parallels to me.

I like the theory that the X-ray's were Locke's, but how would they have been obtained? My first thought was that they were Sawyer's, but that was back when I believed he had that pacemaker. Now, my feeling is that it is Ben. It could be another Other, but who else besides Zeke really matters now, and he doesn't seem to fit in that role very well.

The Desmond future telling story seems to go against the claim that everything on the show can be explained scientifically.

I loved Jack responding to Juliette with "Why would I care how I make you feel?" That was badass.

Originally posted by samoflangeThe Desmond future telling story seems to go against the claim that everything on the show can be explained scientifically.

I'm starting to buy into the theory that because of Desmond's proximity to the hatch implosion, he lived through events on the island, and then somehow was able to travel back in time to the implosion. (Maybe he's stuck in some kind of time loop as part of ABC's plan to market Daybreak?). If anything, I think him putting up the lightning rod was as much him testing himself as much as it was him protecting Claire's tent. If this is true, then we're in for a VERY interesting Desmond flashback episode just after what happened to him is revealed.

Anyway, there would be as much *scientific* explanation for that as there needs to be. (Maybe at the same time that Desmond activated the failsafe, Hurley put some jiffypop in the microwave and there's your time warp...) At least that's as scientific as 'an electromagnetic anomoly brought down the plane.'

Originally posted by Big BadAlso, I love how after Locke's big speech last week about getting Jack/Kate/Sawyer back, the Castaways have banded together to....hang around the beach again and hit some golf balls.

Was I the only one thinking:

"Hey buddy, quit hitting those balls into the water. It isn't like they have a large supply of golf balls on the island ya know."

Originally posted by Big BadAlso, I love how after Locke's big speech last week about getting Jack/Kate/Sawyer back, the Castaways have banded together to....hang around the beach again and hit some golf balls.

Was I the only one thinking:

"Hey buddy, quit hitting those balls into the water. It isn't like they have a large supply of golf balls on the island ya know."

Nope, that just segues into another game to pass the time: diving for golf balls. This guy's just thinking ahead.

VCR Failure last night led to me taking the past 3 hours here at work to sneak in the episode courtesy of abc.com

Not golf balls - fruit - you can see the pile of them next to the club and you can see a good chunk of fruit fly off the clubface.

My $$$ is on the tumor belonging to Ben. Not sure why we have Sawyer & co. on Alcatraz - can any of really trust anything Ben tells us ?

Kate's bank was in Albequerque - Clementine was a woman scorned and whether she pulled cons with Sawyer or not, she had to make him pay when he left her and took the $$$. Who knows if the kid is real or is the kid a con ?

and speaking of kids - where are the children ? I don't remember seeing any during the opening flashback in the season opener. There has been no reference to children other than Locke finding the toy truck in the Polar Bear cage. Last year we saw the dirty feet of children trudging through the jungle - where are they now ? Is there a 3rd group on the island ?

Sawyer always has been my favorite character and every flashback episode of his just solidifies that thought.

Watching the previews, I was under the impression that the tumor belongs to Ben. I'm getting a bit concerned that we're just going to keep piling mystery after mystery (two islands now? Desmond is now Miss Cleo?) on top of each other and not get any answers, but I keep coming back week after week, so they must be doing something right.

Originally posted by Parts UnknownThe big story to me is next week's preview. Did you notice the freaky guy with the eyepatch peering into the camera? Holy cow.

Caught it for a second, made me wish I taped the episode so I could check it out further.